$50M financing, government incentives open doors for OneRoof in the solar leasing market

San Diego-based OneRoof Energy is making a bid for a piece of the booming market for rooftop-solar leases on homes.

Backed by $50 million in recent financing, the solar startup is approaching homeowners as they build or replace a roof, offering thin solar panels that double as roofing tiles — an aesthetic that blends in with nonsolar houses.

By forging a partnership with an established roofing company, OneRoof intends to compete for market share with pioneers like SolarCity and SunRun that lease photovoltaic systems back to the customer or sell rooftop-generated power under a purchase agreement.

So-called “third-party” solar companies, which own thousands upon thousands of rooftop arrays, are thriving based on a curious anomaly of government incentives for rooftop solar.

Corporations are much better positioned than most individuals to collect and repackage government incentives, including federal investment tax credits and deductions for accelerated depreciation.

“It has been structured through the tax code that it’s more efficient for a third party to monetize those tax credits than a homeowner,” explained David Field, CEO of OneRoof.

In California, third-party leases are expected to account for almost three out of four new rooftop solar installations this year, after surpassing the 50 percent mark last year, according to the California Center for Sustainable Energy.

Operating out of a business park in the University City area outside La Jolla, OneRoof’s call center quickly provides lease estimates to customers based on their street address, using three-dimensional mapping technology to study roof angles and surface areas.

Field said OneRoof’s initial goal is to provide more than 3,000 leases by the end of the year, but he and his colleagues are planning ahead for much more rapid growth as solar leases gain acceptance.

“It’s becoming more mainstream,” Field said of rooftop solar leases. “And as it becomes mainstream, you have to say, ‘How do I do this thoughtfully and expand this business into more than a current opportunity?’ ”

OneRoof’s answer has been to partner with exterior building materials company CertainTeed and its network of contractors, helping train roofers as solar installers and sales agents.

That partnership, which also involves electrical services company IES, is intended to provide economies of scale on materials, labor, warranties and more.

“Now I can point to a $5 billion company and say this is my partner,” said Field, referring to revenues at the Saint-Gobain subsidiary.

Field compared launching OneRoof to the building of a utility company, where returns are compiled over decades.

At the same time, he believes the rooftop lease market is moving toward securitization — the bundling of leases for sale to institutional investors — possibly by the end of the year.

OneRoof leases include a performance guarantee designed to ensure savings on utility costs.

Companies like OneRoof are capable of turning a profit while still matching the long-term cost efficiencies of a purchased rooftop system because of the structure of the federal tax code and additional state incentives in California, said Ben Airth, residential solar program manager for the California Solar Initiative. The state initiative is gradually lowering and phasing out its per-watt solar rebates that extend to third-party owned systems.